Patience with the American legal system is wearing thin. So far, Michael Harris writes, Donald Trump has held himself above the law:
One of his tactics has simply been to lie his brains out. When he was president, he told thousands of lies to his fellow Americans, displaying utter contempt for their intelligence and the facts.
He told them they could protect themselves from COVID by injecting disinfectants, or getting some sun.
In the year that 386,000 Americans died from COVID, he told them that the coronavirus was “totally under control,” and “disappearing.”
He told them windmill noise caused cancer.
Trump told them he didn’t know where the $130,000 to silence porn star Stormy Daniels about their fling came from, although he himself personally reimbursed his then-lawyer Michael Cohen for the payment.
But Trump saved his biggest and most destructive lie until he was voted out of office; that the 2020 election was rigged, that he didn’t lose, and that Biden’s presidency was illegitimate. People died at the Capitol Building after Trump’s claim that the election had been stolen ignited a riot on Jan. 6, 2021.
More sinisterly, however, he's broken the law in public:
The world has heard his monstrous request in that taped phone call with Brad Raffensperger. A special grand jury in Georgia has advised the attorney general to pursue charges against various Trump cronies who may have lied during their testimony. The grand jury also unanimously found that there was no corruption in the Georgia election, as Trump claimed.
Special prosecutor Jack Smith has taken a deep-dive into Trump’s frightening attempt to hold on to power after Americans had voted him out. It turns out that Trump had decided long before election night that if he lost, he’d claim that the election was stolen. There was talk of seizing voting machines and declaring a state of martial law: the brainchild of Team Crazy.
That plan was replaced by another virtual coup attempt—creating a block of fake electors to challenge the actual election results before they could be confirmed. Trump put pressure on his vice-president, Mike Pence, to refuse to confirm the will of the people on Jan. 6. He falsely told Pence that as VP, he had the constitutional power to do so. Pence refused, and on the morning of the Jan. 6 insurrection, Trump called him out as a “pussy.” A Trump tweet accusing Pence of lacking courage inspired a novel chant at the insurrection: “Hang Pence.”
Smith also appears to have Trump dead to rights on his handling of classified documents which were found in his possession at his Florida home. Trump willfully retained the documents after the National Archives demanded their return, failed to respond to a subpoena, and may have obstructed justice in the process.
Whether it is Georgia’s attorney general, the district attorney for the southern district of Manhattan, or special prosecutor Smith at the Department of Justice, someone has to hold to account the man who wants to take a chainsaw to the U.S. Constitution.
It's time to indict the man.
Image: Wikimedia Commons/Gage Skidmore
10 comments:
Trump should have been indicted for tax fraud and money laundering long before he ever ran for office. The DAs he bribed to avoid charges should also have been indicted. But rich white men appear to be exempt from prosecution in the US.
Jack Smith's job is to waste time and give Garland cover for not prosecuting Trump despite the mountains of damning evidence that already exist. At a bare minimum, Trump should already have been convicted as Michael Cohen's co-conspirator. There's no reason for any confidence that Trump will eventually be jailed.
Lady Justice has turned a blind eye to Trump's crimes for years, Cap. Clearly, privilege is alive and well in the United States.
@ Cap
But rich white men appear to be exempt from prosecution in the US.
Not completely. First rule: Do not steal from other rich thieves.
Otherwise., you're good to go
I think the question is not if he cheated, lied, promoted conspiracies or obstructed justice. The question is why was the minority of the population prepared to lay down their lives for him?
The rich know that it's important to connect with the right people. jrk.
That's a really good question, hels. And it's one that baffles me.
The fatigue with all of this that sane Americans are experiencing has to be overwhelming. Watching it from this side of the border is baffling enough but as an American, I can't imagine how it feels to be fed a steady diet of constant new bombshells and video clips of him and his followers repeating the same nonsense with absolutely zero consequences. I tend to agree with Cap that Jack Smith is providing cover for Garland who is most likely from the camp that a president or ex president cannot be indicted. Of course, I would love to be wrong about that. The only thing that will get this fraud out of our lives forever is his expiry date, and even with that, he will likely fake his own death as everything about the man is a big lie, he, is the real big lie. BC Waterboy
As a former New York City official said of Trump decades ago, waterboy, "I would believe a word he says -- even if his tongue were notarized."
I believe the quote was "I would NOT believe a word he says - even if his tongue were notarized".
RLW
I forgot the NOT -- in this case, a grave omission. Thanks, RLW.
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